Donald Young traded tennis for pickleball. Then US Open mixed doubles came calling, "one more time"

Donald Young’s last singles match came last September at a Challenger event in Charleston. His last doubles match was 14 months ago in Chicago.

Donald Young’s last tennis match could see him raise a Grand Slam title.

The sport is specified for two reasons. First because Young, the one-time U.S. tennis prodigy, is now playing professional pickleball. Second, because there is a third discipline in tennis at the Grand Slam level: mixed doubles. And at this US Open, Young has as capable a partner as any.

The 35-year-old is teaming with Taylor Townsend, a fellow Chicagoan and recent women’s doubles champion at Wimbledon. As wild-card entrants, they’ve looked formidable in Flushing Meadows, winning their first two matches in straight sets, and prevailing in a 10-8 match tiebreaker to defeat Harri Heliövaara (who won men’s doubles at Wimbledon) and Anna Danilina.

The US Open’s Grandstand seating wasn’t filled to capacity on Labor Day, but the reactions to parts of the dramatic overtime session felt like some of loudest applause of the fortnight.

“Holy sh*t” Townsend said, forgetting where she was for a moment. “The energy—it really pushed us through…you guys are lit.”

“These are the moments we live for, 10-8 in the third, alongside Donald,” she continued. “It’s very nostalgic for me. I’m very happy to be on the same side as him, and that forehand not coming on my head.”

It was a Young forehand that sealed the team’s spot in the semifinals, where they’ll face Rohan Bopanna and Aldila Sutjiadi, but the most interesting shot he hit came at 7-7. Replying to a short Danilina volley, Young calmly carved under the ball, without much room for error, to keep alive the point—which they would win. It looked very dink-y to me.

For those unaware, a ‘dink’ is the most common shot in pro pickleball, hit near but not too close to the net. Young can show you how it’s done:

“Making a consistent dink over and over, it’s just so monotonous,” Young says. “To play soft is totally the opposite of what you want to do in tennis.”

Young didn’t start playing pickleball seriously until last August, and moved over to the surging sport full time this year. He’s beaten top-ranked players like Connor Garnett and Jay Devilliers in singles, and teamed with Devilliers in a match against star Tyson McGuffin and…Jack Sock, another tennis-player-turned-pickeballer:

But Young’s goals in pickleball—"a gold medal, maybe two events in one tournament…a triple crown would be amazing”—will have to wait. For his tennis career continues.

“We’ll get to the end when we get to the end, but we’re still playing,” Young said with a smile. “It’s great to play here one more time.”

Young has been to this stage of the mixed tournament before, 10 years ago, but that was when the former junior No. 1 was still targeting the Top 10 in singles. He never got that high, to the dismay of many fans, but he cracked the Top 40 in 2012, and twice reached the fourth round of the US Open.

Young is 0-4 in tour-level finals, two in singles and two in doubles.

“My hands were shaking pretty hard there at the end,” said Young of Monday’s match, “but had a great partner on my side. I haven’t been in these situations in a long time.”

You could say he’s due.

Townsend was asked how far she thinks her team can go.

“It that a question?” she shot back. “Come on.”